(02-20-2019 10:15 AM)cr11owl Wrote:  It’s mostly between the ears. I think this coaching staff will get it sorted out.

I admittedly haven't watched the games, but baseball errors are often more mental then physical, especially true when they are happening in bunches and are team-wide.

(02-20-2019 10:10 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 10:00 AM)Rice93 Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 09:37 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 07:35 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Spot on post-game comments from Bragga on riceowls.com...

Quote:Matt Bragga said – "Right now we have made nine errors in four games and we have to start taking better care of the baseball. Sometimes we've been too aggressive, trying to force a play that wasn't there and other times there have been some small things like not properly backing-up on play. Until we handle the ball better we'll just be OK. We have to play defense. We're not doing that right now, but it's very correctable. We'll come through and do a better job defensively. Offensively we have to be better when we get balls to hit. If we do that I think we're dangerous. Overall it was not good enough on the mound tonight, but I do think Blair came in and did one whale of a job. He gave us chance by being able to work a lot of innings. What Blair was able to do tonight was very important with five games coming up in six days against some really very good teams. I knew this week in our schedule would be a challenge, and I want to see how we handle this tough stretch of games."

Not sure how others felt going into the season, but I was probably overly optimistic with our chances this year. I assumed that a new coach would inspire a group of talented players in ways the OG wasn't able to, and that would lead to a quick turnaround.

As of now, it's looking a bit like we are a little short on talent in key areas, especially defensively. Bragga will have his hands full, but I do like how he's rather upfront with our shortcomings and if he can get some of the defensive issues ironed out, we could start trending upwards. IT's also only 4 games into the season, so I won't start getting too down on the team.

I didn't have much confidence going into this year given our recent recruiting struggles and our lack of position players. I was, however, hoping for less defensive mishaps.

I feel good about our upcoming recruiting classes and I think that the new coaching staff will straighten out our defense.

I still do not believe that talent is the issue. I mean, sure we don't have Mookie Betts hanging out in the dugout, but we aren't 2.25 errors per game equivalent of talent lacking.

Our recruiting is better than 250th in the country (which is roughly our fielding rank).

We are well off of our talent level from what it used to be. I may try and compile notable Houston players who have gone else where in the past few years. We need to fix that.

I do think there is a pretty sizeable talent gap between us an UT/A&M/LSU right now that didn’t exist 6+ years ago. Sadly I think it might extend to TTU/Baylor/TCU/UH as well.
[/quote]

Exactly. That is not going to change because Rice is not going to change. Bragga can go find all the Tennessee Tech types he wants, but they are not getting into school here. Everyone loved to dump on old Wayne, and the reality is that his age may have cost him some recruits. His stature got recruits too. Now we are into year one of the Karlgaard baseball era and the reality is that like all the other men's programs that are asked to compete with the big boys, baseball remains on the decline and there are no realistic ways for Rice to get the quality of recruits that big power 5 schools do in any sport. This won't change because there is simply no way to change it short of the BOT investing 100s of millions in athletics and we all know that is not happening. The death spiral continues.......

(02-20-2019 01:23 PM)interwebowl Wrote:  I do think there is a pretty sizeable talent gap between us an UT/A&M/LSU right now that didn’t exist 6+ years ago. Sadly I think it might extend to TTU/Baylor/TCU/UH as well.

Exactly. That is not going to change because Rice is not going to change. Bragga can go find all the Tennessee Tech types he wants, but they are not getting into school here. Everyone loved to dump on old Wayne, and the reality is that his age may have cost him some recruits. His stature got recruits too. Now we are into year one of the Karlgaard baseball era and the reality is that like all the other men's programs that are asked to compete with the big boys, baseball remains on the decline and there are no realistic ways for Rice to get the quality of recruits that big power 5 schools do in any sport. This won't change because there is simply no way to change it short of the BOT investing 100s of millions in athletics and we all know that is not happening. The death spiral continues.......
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Think you missed the part where our future recruiting (classes signed by Bragga) has taken a significant jump in level of prospect compared to the bulk of our last 5 classes.

It probably helps to have a coach that actually recruits.

Concerning last night's game, our schedule is going to provide us with scrapes and bruises. We need to get all of this out now before conference starts.

In general, there is plenty of talent on this team. Many teams have won with much less.

(02-20-2019 01:23 PM)interwebowl Wrote:  I do think there is a pretty sizeable talent gap between us an UT/A&M/LSU right now that didn’t exist 6+ years ago. Sadly I think it might extend to TTU/Baylor/TCU/UH as well.

Exactly. That is not going to change because Rice is not going to change. Bragga can go find all the Tennessee Tech types he wants, but they are not getting into school here. Everyone loved to dump on old Wayne, and the reality is that his age may have cost him some recruits. His stature got recruits too. Now we are into year one of the Karlgaard baseball era and the reality is that like all the other men's programs that are asked to compete with the big boys, baseball remains on the decline and there are no realistic ways for Rice to get the quality of recruits that big power 5 schools do in any sport. This won't change because there is simply no way to change it short of the BOT investing 100s of millions in athletics and we all know that is not happening. The death spiral continues.......
[/quote]

Ready to fire Bragga after one week of the season are you? That’s a record. Even Pera got more than a week before people were calling for his firing.

One thing I've learned about watching Rice baseball over the years is that this early in the season it's impossible to tell how we will do during the season as a whole. If we start out 7-1, I've learned not to succumb to irrational exuberance. If we are 2-6, there no need for suicidal depression.
It's way early.
This team has talent. We will be better.

(02-20-2019 01:51 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 01:23 PM)interwebowl Wrote:  I do think there is a pretty sizeable talent gap between us an UT/A&M/LSU right now that didn’t exist 6+ years ago. Sadly I think it might extend to TTU/Baylor/TCU/UH as well.

Exactly. That is not going to change because Rice is not going to change. Bragga can go find all the Tennessee Tech types he wants, but they are not getting into school here. Everyone loved to dump on old Wayne, and the reality is that his age may have cost him some recruits. His stature got recruits too. Now we are into year one of the Karlgaard baseball era and the reality is that like all the other men's programs that are asked to compete with the big boys, baseball remains on the decline and there are no realistic ways for Rice to get the quality of recruits that big power 5 schools do in any sport. This won't change because there is simply no way to change it short of the BOT investing 100s of millions in athletics and we all know that is not happening. The death spiral continues.......

Ready to fire Bragga after one week of the season are you? That’s a record. Even Pera got more than a week before people were calling for his firing.
[/quote]

That is not what I said. I think Bragga may be a really nice guy and the players I have talked to seem to like him. I am saying that Rice cannot compete with the big boys and never will again in men's sports without a complete overhaul of the bot commitment to athletics. Joe is not going to get that because his job, as he sees it, is not to win but to keep it alive. The head coaches don't matter and they have not for some time.

(02-20-2019 01:57 PM)interwebowl Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 01:51 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 01:23 PM)interwebowl Wrote:  I do think there is a pretty sizeable talent gap between us an UT/A&M/LSU right now that didn’t exist 6+ years ago. Sadly I think it might extend to TTU/Baylor/TCU/UH as well.

Exactly. That is not going to change because Rice is not going to change. Bragga can go find all the Tennessee Tech types he wants, but they are not getting into school here. Everyone loved to dump on old Wayne, and the reality is that his age may have cost him some recruits. His stature got recruits too. Now we are into year one of the Karlgaard baseball era and the reality is that like all the other men's programs that are asked to compete with the big boys, baseball remains on the decline and there are no realistic ways for Rice to get the quality of recruits that big power 5 schools do in any sport. This won't change because there is simply no way to change it short of the BOT investing 100s of millions in athletics and we all know that is not happening. The death spiral continues.......

Ready to fire Bragga after one week of the season are you? That’s a record. Even Pera got more than a week before people were calling for his firing.

That is not what I said. I think Bragga may be a really nice guy and the players I have talked to seem to like him. I am saying that Rice cannot compete with the big boys and never will again in men's sports without a complete overhaul of the bot commitment to athletics. Joe is not going to get that because his job, as he sees it, is not to win but to keep it alive. The head coaches don't matter and they have not for some time.
[/quote]

Disagree about baseball given the recent change in financial aid. Unless a prospective student-athlete comes from a well-off family, the financial aid policy now allows us to recruit non-scholarship players and, in essence, offer them an academic scholarship. That's how a lot of the big schools caught up to us - they started investing in their programs AND recruiting people by offering them non-athletic scholarships.

The reason baseball, over football or basketball, is a sport we can still compete in, is that there is a clear amateur route for high school students to take, that doesn't involve college. That means we can compete for students who actually value their education or players who might not immediately see a path to the pros. If we keep investing in our facilities and coaches, there is no reason we can't remain among the elite baseball universities.

(02-20-2019 01:57 PM)greyowl72 Wrote:  One thing I've learned about watching Rice baseball over the years is that this early in the season it's impossible to tell how we will do during the season as a whole. If we start out 7-1, I've learned not to succumb to irrational exuberance. If we are 2-6, there no need for suicidal depression.
It's way early.
This team has talent. We will be better.

Good point, we started one year off 9-9 and ended up being a national seed.

(02-20-2019 02:14 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 01:57 PM)interwebowl Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 01:51 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 01:23 PM)interwebowl Wrote:  I do think there is a pretty sizeable talent gap between us an UT/A&M/LSU right now that didn’t exist 6+ years ago. Sadly I think it might extend to TTU/Baylor/TCU/UH as well.

Exactly. That is not going to change because Rice is not going to change. Bragga can go find all the Tennessee Tech types he wants, but they are not getting into school here. Everyone loved to dump on old Wayne, and the reality is that his age may have cost him some recruits. His stature got recruits too. Now we are into year one of the Karlgaard baseball era and the reality is that like all the other men's programs that are asked to compete with the big boys, baseball remains on the decline and there are no realistic ways for Rice to get the quality of recruits that big power 5 schools do in any sport. This won't change because there is simply no way to change it short of the BOT investing 100s of millions in athletics and we all know that is not happening. The death spiral continues.......

Ready to fire Bragga after one week of the season are you? That’s a record. Even Pera got more than a week before people were calling for his firing.

That is not what I said. I think Bragga may be a really nice guy and the players I have talked to seem to like him. I am saying that Rice cannot compete with the big boys and never will again in men's sports without a complete overhaul of the bot commitment to athletics. Joe is not going to get that because his job, as he sees it, is not to win but to keep it alive. The head coaches don't matter and they have not for some time.

Disagree about baseball given the recent change in financial aid. Unless a prospective student-athlete comes from a well-off family, the financial aid policy now allows us to recruit non-scholarship players and, in essence, offer them an academic scholarship. That's how a lot of the big schools caught up to us - they started investing in their programs AND recruiting people by offering them non-athletic scholarships.

The reason baseball, over football or basketball, is a sport we can still compete in, is that there is a clear amateur route for high school students to take, that doesn't involve college. That means we can compete for students who actually value their education or players who might not immediately see a path to the pros. If we keep investing in our facilities and coaches, there is no reason we can't remain among the elite baseball universities.
[/quote]

That is a good point about the financial aid although our recruiting pool is still more restricted. The other complicating factor is that the best college baseball recruits tend not to be interested in quality educations especially when that involves a rigorous study plan. Rice usually loses those kids no matter what the income bracket and unfortunately over the last 20 years this has grown from a small percentage of college baseball to the vast majority. The really smart ones we have a chance at, but we don't beat Stanford and Vanderbilt for those recruits.

(02-20-2019 10:15 AM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 10:10 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 10:00 AM)Rice93 Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 09:37 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 07:35 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Spot on post-game comments from Bragga on riceowls.com...

Not sure how others felt going into the season, but I was probably overly optimistic with our chances this year. I assumed that a new coach would inspire a group of talented players in ways the OG wasn't able to, and that would lead to a quick turnaround.

As of now, it's looking a bit like we are a little short on talent in key areas, especially defensively. Bragga will have his hands full, but I do like how he's rather upfront with our shortcomings and if he can get some of the defensive issues ironed out, we could start trending upwards. IT's also only 4 games into the season, so I won't start getting too down on the team.

I didn't have much confidence going into this year given our recent recruiting struggles and our lack of position players. I was, however, hoping for less defensive mishaps.

I feel good about our upcoming recruiting classes and I think that the new coaching staff will straighten out our defense.

I still do not believe that talent is the issue. I mean, sure we don't have Mookie Betts hanging out in the dugout, but we aren't 2.25 errors per game equivalent of talent lacking.

Our recruiting is better than 250th in the country (which is roughly our fielding rank).

It’s mostly between the ears. I think this coaching staff will get it sorted out.

I do think there is a pretty sizeable talent gap between us an UT/A&M/LSU right now that didn’t exist 6+ years ago. Sadly I think it might extend to TTU/Baylor/TCU/UH as well.

Definitely. I dont mean to imply that there isnt a talent gap between us and the top. I've felt for several years that we are grossly underperforming our talent from a fielding perspective.

We may not be top 10 in talent, but we aren't 250th either. As a result, this would be mental thing that needs to be worked out.

The recruiting focus should be on Houston and the surrounding areas. Once Houston recruiting wraps up then start looking around the state. Some of our best players have come from our own back yard or darn close. Affluent neighborhoods (particularly in Houston) always have kids with high levels of talent and they generally place an emphasis on education as well.

The whole scholarship thing has been beat to death and is the ultimate excuse. We did not have scholarship advantages when were elite and do not need them now. Just because other schools have found ways to work the system does not mean we need to. After a strong season, selling Rice to a 15-18 year old kid is not difficult - there are massive amounts of success to be had on and off the field as a Rice alum.

Rice baseball is sexier than we like to believe but not as sexy as it used to be. What is not to love about a strong program with an even stronger degree? We need to remind kids of that fact, be it through number of players drafted or starting salaries for Rice grads.

This is a what have you done for me lately business and I think the new regime has things moving in the right direction. It will be difficult to achieve the status we once had but it is not impossible. Bragga and co seem plenty motivated to make it happen. Go Owls.

The mental aspect has extended to all areas; inabilities to hit well in the clutch, blowups on the pitching mound (remember the ULL debacle at the UH regional four years ago where we blew a 6-2 lead in the top of the ninth because two consecutive pitchers couldn't even get the first out of the inning; our bats went down meekly in the bottom half of the inning to finish the choke job)) and piss poor fielding. For whatever reason over the past 5-7 years, there seems to be a large gap between where our players are mentally and a championship-type level of focus/mentality to block out every single mistake and start each pitch/at-bat with a fresh mindset.

(02-20-2019 04:03 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  The mental aspect has extended to all areas; inabilities to hit well in the clutch, blowups on the pitching mound (remember the ULL debacle at the UH regional four years ago where we blew a 6-2 lead in the top of the ninth because two consecutive pitchers couldn't even get the first out of the inning; our bats went down meekly in the bottom half of the inning to finish the choke job)) and piss poor fielding. For whatever reason over the past 5-7 years, there seems to be a large gap between where our players are mentally and a championship-type level of focus/mentality to block out every single mistake and start each pitch/at-bat with a fresh mindset.

My sentiments exactly. I still remember the NC State super regional...

I've only seen the first 7 innings of game 1 but the one error I saw in that game was Trei Cruz's play at SS. He knocked down a really hard ball to get to up the middle, and then for some reason decided to try a miracle throw at 1B (which was wild and up the line, resulting in a single and E6). I'm pretty sure that's the type of mental plays Bragga wants the team to improve on. Cruz made a nice play to get to the ball, but should have just held the ball after that.

(02-20-2019 04:09 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 04:03 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  The mental aspect has extended to all areas; inabilities to hit well in the clutch, blowups on the pitching mound (remember the ULL debacle at the UH regional four years ago where we blew a 6-2 lead in the top of the ninth because two consecutive pitchers couldn't even get the first out of the inning; our bats went down meekly in the bottom half of the inning to finish the choke job)) and piss poor fielding. For whatever reason over the past 5-7 years, there seems to be a large gap between where our players are mentally and a championship-type level of focus/mentality to block out every single mistake and start each pitch/at-bat with a fresh mindset.

My sentiments exactly. I still remember the NC State super regional...

NC State was a very good team. Those games were lost when we put in a closer who had a great year. That team was far from mentally weak and was one of the best fielding teams we have had in awhile. Not a great example.

(02-20-2019 05:08 PM)Throwing Chade Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 04:09 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 04:03 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  The mental aspect has extended to all areas; inabilities to hit well in the clutch, blowups on the pitching mound (remember the ULL debacle at the UH regional four years ago where we blew a 6-2 lead in the top of the ninth because two consecutive pitchers couldn't even get the first out of the inning; our bats went down meekly in the bottom half of the inning to finish the choke job)) and piss poor fielding. For whatever reason over the past 5-7 years, there seems to be a large gap between where our players are mentally and a championship-type level of focus/mentality to block out every single mistake and start each pitch/at-bat with a fresh mindset.

My sentiments exactly. I still remember the NC State super regional...

NC State was a very good team. Those games were lost when we put in a closer who had a great year. That team was far from mentally weak and was one of the best fielding teams we have had in awhile. Not a great example.

We blew it. Badly. Lets not go down excuse alley. What next, no EZF?

The more recent example of us blowing it was when we were 8 outs away from the Super Regional in 2016 @ LSU and Willy Amador collapsed.

(02-20-2019 04:09 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I've only seen the first 7 innings of game 1 but the one error I saw in that game was Trei Cruz's play at SS. He knocked down a really hard ball to get to up the middle, and then for some reason decided to try a miracle throw at 1B (which was wild and up the line, resulting in a single and E6). I'm pretty sure that's the type of mental plays Bragga wants the team to improve on. Cruz made a nice play to get to the ball, but should have just held the ball after that.

Tre made a similar error yesterday, taking an OF relay and throwing errantly to 3B when he had absolutely no chance of nailing the runner. He's got to stop thinking he's superman.